Swipe File #12: It's your choice

When you work with your brain and heart, there is no separation between work and life. And that's okay when you're passionate about doing something great.

Why waste your time creating something you don’t care about, aren’t invested in? Life is too short. Perhaps it would be better to spend the little life you have on something that matters to you, that will matter to those you are creating for.

According to Drs. Rossbacher and Newell, "Balance is an elusive and ultimately unattainable condition." They advocate instead for dynamic equilibrium:

A stream is affected by the characteristics of underlying rocks and soil, fractures, vegetation, uplift, precipitation and groundwater levels. The stream will “work” to adapt changes in any of these factors by eroding the surrounding banks and channel floor, deepening its course or depositing sediment. Over time, changing climate affects dynamic equilibrium too.

In a sense, we all manage the landscapes of our lives in similar ways. When we have more work to do, we shift our energy to pick up the load. When family or personal demands increase, we shift our focus there and let work slide a little.

When we reach the new equilibrium point, we readjust, but that equilibrium point is always changing.

DHH always says it like it is. This post is a few years old but his thoughts still ring true. In short, he's proud of how smart the team works at 37signals (now Basecamp) and he isn't sorry for their success.

It’s the archetypical false dilemma. Either you 1) let your business devour your life and you’ll be incredibly successful or 2) you balance your life with other things than work but are relegated to paying-the-rent success. Double ha!

We’re living proof that you can work much less than popular entrepreneur lore would have you believe and still run a very successful, multi-million dollar business. And still have time for taking flying lessons, learning to play the guitar, nurture your garden, go hiking, enjoy cooking, socialize with people outside your tech circle.